Rotary engine.



G. P. HERRIGK.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1910.

1,014,150. Patented Jan.9,1912.

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G. P. HERRICK.

ROTARY ENGINE. APPLIOATiON FILED MAY 23, 1910.

1,014,150. Patented Jan.9,1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

COLUMBIA MNnuRAPH C0,. WASHINGTON. D. c.

G. P. HERRIGK.

ROTARY ENGINE.

' APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. 1910.

Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET-B.

witweooeo G. P. HERRIOK.

' ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1910.

1,014,150; Patented. Jan. 9,1912. I

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G. P. HERRIGK.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION I'ILED MAY 23, 1910.

1,014,150. I V Patented Jan.v9,1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

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GERARDUS POST HERRICK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9,1912.

Application filed May 23, 1910. Serial No. 562,823.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it knownthat I, GERARDUS Pos'r HER- RICK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of New York city, borough of Marihattan, in thecounty of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in rotary engines,and the same consists in the improvements to be fully describedhereinafter and the novelty of which will be particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed.

I have fully and clearly illustrated my invention in the accompanyingdrawings to be taken as a part of this specification and wherein Figure1 is a view in side elevation of a rotary engine embodying my invention;Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation taken from the side opposite to thatshown in Fig. 1, the side plates of the casing being removed to disclosethe interior of the engine; Fig. 8 is a vertical central transversesection through the engine; Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of a steamcheck for cooperation with one of the rotatable parts of the invention;Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of a modified form of the check shownin Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a detail section showing a means for adjusting thechecks shown in Figs. 4 and 5; Fig. 7 is a transverse section throughthe admission valve; Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section through theadmission valve; Fig. 9 is a detail section of another form of steamcheck; Fig. 10 is a view in side elevation of means for transmittingrotary movement from the rotor to the abutment; and for Fig. 11 is alongitudinal section through another form of admission valve; Fig. 12 isa detail section of another form of check; Figs. 13 and 14 are views inelevation of other means for transmitting rotary inotion from the rotorto the abutment; Fig. 15 is a plan view of an arrangement of rotaryengines whereby the balancing of the radial load on the rotors of theengines is provided; Fig. 16 is a section on the line 1616 of Fig. 2;Fig. 17 is a plan view of another form of balancing arrangement; Figs.18 and 19 are views in side elevation and plan, respectively, of theform of packing used in connection with the rotor and abutment shafts.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, 1 designatesgenerally the casing of the rotary engine embodying my invention, saidcasing including a center body 2, having upper and lower substantiallycylindrical lobes 3, 4 arranged with their transverse axes on the samevertical line, said lobes opening into each other at their point ofunion. The opposite open ends of the center body lobes are closed byface plates securely bolted to the center body, said plates beingdivided into upper and lower sections 5, 6, respectively, which areindependently applicable to and removable from the center body. Theupper sections of the end plates, which sections close the upper lobe 8,are provided with inwardly directed cylindrical extensions 7, preferablyin the form of annular flanges, said extensions being directed inwardtoward each other and being arranged with their central axes coincident.Extending through the face plates and the extensions 7 is a horizontallydisposed shaft 8, upon which is mounted to turn therewith a cylindricalabutment 9, the same being keyed to the shaft and held against movementlengthwise thereof by a fixed collar 10, and an adjustable collar 11,the latter being threaded on the shaft, the abutment being clampedbetween said collars. The abutment turns between the adjacent inner endsof the extensions 7 and is formed with lateral annular extensions 12which project and turn between the said extensions 7 and the parts ofthe center body which surround said extensions, the latter being of lessdiameter than the openings through which they extend.

The shaft 8 as above stated, projects through the face plates 5 and theextensions 7 thereof, and in order to prevent steam leakage between theparts, I provide suitable packing consisting of annular elements 13having adjacent inclined faces, said elements surrounding the shaft andbeing located within recesses 14 in the said faceplates, and beingclamped between shoulders 15 in the face plates and adjustable collarsl6 threaded into said recesses. The annular elements are arranged withtheir inclined faces oppositely directed so that movement of theelements toward each other will serve to move one set of elementsoutward and the other set inward. I prefer that this packing be ofalternated fibrous and metal elements, 110

the metal elements being in the form of split rings 16 havingoverlapping ends, the space between the meeting ends of which arebridged by a plate 17, which prevents the fibrous packing from gettingbetween the ends of the said rings. I prefer that the metallic elementsbe formed with straight faces which abut each other and with outwardlyinclined faces, the inclined face of one metallic element convergingoutwardly toward the corresponding face of the adjoining metallicelement. The intervening fibrous elements have their inclined facesformed to converge toward the shaft.

The ends of the shafts may be lubricated in any desired manner, but Iprefer to em"- ploy ring oilers, the rings 18 turning in oil pockets 19in the said face plates 5. Similar to the face plates 5 of the abutmentcasing, the face plates 6 of the lower cylinder are formed with inwardlyprojected extensions 19 consisting of annular flanges arranged on thesame axis, and extending through these face plates 5 within the saidflanges is a rotor shaft 20 carrying a rotor 21, the latter projectingand turning between the ends of the extensions 19, and having lateralextensions 22, arranged between the outer cylindrical faces of saidextensions 19 and the adjacent wall of the casing. The rotor is keyed tothe shaft, and is held be tween a fixed collar 23, and an adjustableclamping collar 24 threaded on the shaft,

. said collars holding the rotor against movement longitudinally of theshaft. The shaft may be suitably packed as at 25, and provided withlubricating means asshown at 26. As these means are the same as thoseemployed for performing the same functions regarding the abutment shaft,I do not deem it necessary to repeat a detailed description of them atthis point.'

The rotor is of less diameter than the chamber in which it turns toprovide an annular steam space, and projecting. radially from the rotorand rigidly connected thereto is a piston blade adapted to receiveexpansive force of steam to cause it to rotate the rotor, the steambeing admitted to the rotor cylinder between the abutment and saidblade, the inlet being controlled by a valve to be presently described.The rotor and the abutment above described are ar-' ranged to rotate inrolling contact with each other, and the abutment is provided with arecess 26, which receives the piston blade and permits the latter topass the abutment. This piston blade at its end and side faces passes inclose proximity to the casing wall, but out of cont-act therewith. Inorder to reduce leakage past the piston, I form'the side faces of thesaid blade with grooves or channels 27 arranged parallel to each otherand extending across theline of rotation. These grooves arev so formedthat reducing the leakage at this point.

their line of depth is inclined forwardly relative to the line ofmovement of the blade, the forwardside of the groove, in section,curving to meet the rear side as at 28. 'By this arrangement steamtending to leak by the piston passes into these grooves and is thrownback by the curved face 28 and out against the adjacent face of thecasing, thus forming a counter current tending to op-. pose the flow ofsteam past the blade and I may also similarly groove the side faces ofthe rotor at a point below the blade, as shown at 29, to further reducethe leakage. I also provide the side faces ofthe blade with a second setof grooves 30 similar to those just described but disposed with theirlines of depth inclined backwardly, relative to the direction ofmovement of the rotor, the purpose of these grooves being to catch upand carry with the blade the lubricant within the casing so as toeffectively lubricate the sides of the blade. The side faces of therotor adjacent the blade may also be provided with a similar set ofgrooves, as shown at 31, both sets of lubricant-catching grooves beingpreferably arranged in advance of the leakage-reducing grooves. Therotor and abutment shafts each carry a .spur gear 32, 33 respectively,arranged in mesh with each other, whereby the abutment shaft is rotatedby the rotor shaft, the gears being proportioned so that the abutmentmakes a single revolution for every revolution of the rotor shaft.

Located in the lower casing wall is a steam inlet 34 through which steamis ad mitted between the abutment and the rotor blade to exert its forceexpansively on the latter, and this inlet is controlled by a cutoffvalve which will now be described: Bolted to the'engine casing is avalve casing consisting of a center body 35 having wings 36, 37 toreceive fastening bolts 38 by means of which said center is secured inplace, the center of the valve and the adjacent part of the enginecasing being each formed with a semi-cylindrical recess 39, t0respectively, which unite to form a cylindrical bearing extendingtransversely of the engine casing, as shown in Figs. 2 and 7. The endsof the center body are closed and said cylindrical bearing also, by sideplates 41 which cover the sides of the center body and overlap thebearing and the engine casing, said plates 'being bolted to the centerbody and the engine casing, and completing the valve casing. The valvecasing is formed with an inlet 41 through the center body to which isconnected a supply pipe 42, and within the center body is a web 43forming the semi cylindrical bearing surface heretofore described, saidweb being of less width than the center body and dividing the inlet intobranches The end plates 41', 41 are each provided with an annular flange44 which flanges project into the valve casing between the engine casingand the valve casing and each is formed with a port 45, whichcommunicates with the inlet branches 42, 42 Rotatably arranged withinthe cylindrical space bounded by the recess inthe casing the web 43, andthe inner ends of said flanges 44, 44, is a rotary valve consisting of ahollow open ended cylindrical member 46, the open ends of whichcommunicate respectively with said ports 45, and having diametricallylo-,

cated openings 47, which, when the valve is rotated, are successivelybrought into register with the inlet 34 to permit steam to flow into therotor casing. The valve is formed with a hub 48 connected to the barrelby spokes 49, said hub being mounted upon a valve shaft 50,v havingbearings in the end plates 41, the shaft being provided with a sprocketgear 51 which is driven by a sprocket chain 52 driven by a sprocket 53on the abutment shaft. The sprocket gears are so proportioned that thevalve shaft is turned one-half a revolution for every completerevolution of the abutment and the rotor.

It will be seen upon reference to Figs. 2 and 7, that during itsrotation a part of the valve is subjected to pressure of the steamwithin the rotor casing, and I balance the load thus caused by providinga duct 54 leading from the steam space of the rotor casing, through thevalve casing and into a pocket 55 in the diaphragm or web 43, andopening against the rotary valve at a point opposite the area subjectedto the steam pressure in the rotor casing.

I provide simple and effective means for reducing leakage of steam fromthe rotor casing at the inlet point into the space between the abutmentand its casing, said means consisting of a check or clearance stripwhich is arranged within the abutment casing transversely of the innercurved surface thereof, said strip being provided with adjusting meanswhereby it may be adjusted to regulate the clearance between theabutment and the casing. The strip is shown at 56 in Figs. 4, 5 and 6,being located within a transverse pocket in the casing and held againstendwise movement by the ends of the pocket but free to be adjustedtoward and away from the abutment. The strip is formed with an inclinedrear face as at 58 and a longitudinal dovetail groove 59 insaid face,which groove receives a dovetail tongue 60 on a wedge 61, the latterhaving a straight face 62 sliding on the bottom of said pocket and aninclined face 63 cooperating with the inclined face on the said strip.Connected to the wedge is an operating member 64 projecting through theeasing wall and adapted to be operated manually to slide the said wedgeto either move abutment.

In the form of check shown in Fig. 4, the strip 56 is rigidly connectedto the operating wedge, but in Fig. 5 a spring 66 is placed between thewedge and the strip and enough play is provided between the parts topermit the spring to cushion the strip so that the said strip isyieldingly engaged by the abutment.

In Figs. 9 and 12 of the drawings I show another form of packing carriedby the easing for producing the clearance between the abutment and thecasing. In Fig. 9 this construction includes a transverselyarrangedrotatable rod 67 carrying an arm 68 and an arm 69, to the latter ofwhich is pivoted a check strip 70 which is normally thrust outward intoengagement with the cylindrical surface of the abutment by an expansivespring 71 located between the rear face of the check strip and the arm68. The rod 67 extends to a point exterior of the casing whereit can beconveniently operated manually. It will be seen that by rotating the rodto the right, as shown in Fig. 9, the check strip will be moved to moreclosely approach the surface of the abutment, while a reverse movementof the rodserves to move the check strip away from the abutment. In Fig.12 this pivoted check strip'is shown rigidly mounted on the rod 67, thesame being connected thereto by an arm 7 0 In Fig. 10 I have shown meansto insure proper engagement between the grooves on the abutment and therotor irrespective of changes in the positions of said grooves due toexpansion or contraction of the rotors or of the casing. In this form ofthe invention the abutment shaft is provided with a gear 72 and therotorshaft with a gear 73, and at a point intermediate the shafts I provide arectilinear guide frame 74 in which slides a cross head 75 upon whichare mounted upper and lower gears 76, 77 respectively, said gears beingarranged in mesh with each other and the upper gear in mesh with thegear 72 on the abutment shaft, the lower gear being in mesh with thegear 73 on the rotor shaft. The shafts or gudgeons 78 of the gears 7 6,77 are connected to the abutment and rotor shafts 8 and 20by rigiddistance links 79, whereby the gears 7 6, 77 are maintained in fixedrelation to the gears 72 and 73. By this arrangement it will be seenthat should the rotor shafts be moved away from each other, due toexpansion of the parts, the distance rods or links will serve to drivethe gears 76 and 77 inward into the space between the gears 72, 73, thesliding support provided by the slide 75 and the guide 74 pe'rmittingthis movement. Should there be any contraction of the.casing or otherparts, the movement of the shafts 8 and toward each othermerely servesto move the gears 76, 88 outward from between said rotor shafts. By thisarrangement it will be apparent that the gears are always maintained inproper mesh irrespec= tive of the expansion or contraction of the casingdue to temperature changes.

In Fig. '11 I have shown a modified form ofthe rotatable inlet valve forthe rotor cylinder. In this form the casing of the valve is shown at 79,the same being provided with an inlet 80 which is divided into twobranches 80 80 by a diaphragm 81, said diaphragm and the casingbeingformed to provide a cylindrical valve seat in which turns arotatable hollow valve 82 having an opening 83 adapted to be broughtinto register with an outlet 84 of the casing. The diathe casing, orother support.

phragm is formed with reduced cylindrical end portions 85, in which turnextensions 86 on the ends of the hollow valve, the extensions on thediaphragm being separated from the end portions of the casing, so thatsteam from the inlet will pass through the branches thereof around theends of the diaphragm into the hollow valve through the extensions 86thereof, and from the hollow valve out through the outlet 84. The valveis mounted upon a suitable shaft 87 carrying one end of the sprocket 88,driven by a chain passing over the sprocket on the abutment shaft insubstantially the same manner as for the form of valve previouslydescribed. As shown in the drawings, this valve is provided with but asingle opening and means is provided for balancing the load exerted onthe closed portion of the valve when the same closes the outlet 84, thismeans consisting of pipes 88 by means of which steam is admitted fromthe engine cylinder to ducts 89 in the valve casing which open upon theexterior surfaces of the extensions 86 at a point opposite to the valveoutlet. By this arrangement it will be apparent that any load on thevalve will be balanced by a corresponding pressure exerted upon saidextension.

In Fig. 13 I have shown another'means.

for connecting the rotor and abutment shafts to cause the same torevolve in opposite directions. In this embodiment the rotor andabutment shafts are each provided with a crank 90 one crank beingarranged to projectin a direction opposite to, the other, and being eachconnected by a connecting rod 91 to a rectilinear slide 92, one end ofeach of said rods being pivotally connected to the outer end of one ofthe cranks and the opposite ends of said rods being pivotally connectedto the rectilinear slide on the same, both as shown at 93. This slide isadapted to move back and forth within a suitable rectilinear guide 94mounted upon rangement' the rotation of the rotor and its By this ar--crank will serve to reciprocate the slide 92 tively at 95, 95*, saidcranks being each connected by links 96, 96 to rectilinear slides 97, 97respectively, arranged upon guides 98, said guides being connected by arigid distance bar 99. In this form of driving means, when the rotor isturned in the direction of the arrow, the movement of the crank 95-serves to impart a reciprocating movement to the slides 97, 97 and bymeans of the connecting rod 96 this reciprocating movement is convertedinto a rotary movement of the abutment shaft, the rotation of theabutment shaft being in a direction opposite to, that of the rotorshaft.

In Fig. 15 I ha e shown an arrangement of a plurality of engines of thegeneral type heretofore described by means 'of which the load on therotor shafts is balanced. In this 106 of separate engines, the rotors ofwhich are arranged on lateral extensions of the shaft 103 for the rotor100, and this shaft at the end opposite to the gears 104 is connectedby'gearing 107 to an abutment shaft 108 upon which the abutment of bothof the outer engines are secured. The surfaces of the rotors of thelaterally disposed engines are so proportioned that their combined areais equal to the area of the rotor surface of the intermediate engine,and the piston blades on these rotors are so arranged'that when steam issimultaneously admitted to all three of the engines, the area of therotor surfaces and the lateral engine, which is subjected to load, willequal the area of the rotor surface of the intermediate. engine which issubjected to load, the result being that the combined loads on thelateral engines serves to counterbalance. the radial load on the rotorof the intermediate engine. It will be understood that the inlet to allthree of the rotor. cylinders takes place at the same time.

In Fig. 17 I have shown'a balancing ar rangement in which a centralengine is provided as shown at 109 and lateral engines 110, the rotorsof all of said engines being arranged on the same shaft 111 and theabutments of said engines being all arranged on the same shaft 112',said shafts being geared together by gearing 113. In this embodiment thearea of the rotors of the engines 110 combine to equal the area of thesurface of the rotor 109 and the steam is so introduced into all of saidengines that the area of the rotors of the engines 110 subjected toradial load will equal in total the area of the rotor in the engine1.09, which is subjected to radial load. I accomplish this by arrangingthe blades on the rotors of the engines 110 at an angle of 120.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. In a rotary engine, a casing having aninlet and an exhaust, a rotor, a rotary abutment in rollingcontact withthe rotor, a clearance strip in the casing, and manually operable meansengaging said strip and extending exterior of the casing for positivelymoving said strip toward and away from the abutment.

2. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and an exhaust, a rotor,a rotary abutment in rolling contact with the rotor, a manually operablemember projecting into the casing, a clearance strip movably connectedto the operating member, and means whereby movement of the operatingmember relative to the clearance strip positively moves the lattertoward or away from the casing.

3. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and an exhaust, a rotor,a rotary abutment in rolling contact with the roller, a manuallyoperable member projecting into the casing, a clearance strip movablyconnected to the operating member, and a spring for cushioning theclearance strip.

4:. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and an exhaust, arotor, a rotary abutment in rolling contact with the rotor, a manuallyoperable member projecting into the casing, a clearance strip movablyconnected to the operating member, and a spring for cushioning theclearancestrip, said spring being located between said member and thestrip. I

5. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and an exhaust, a rotor,a rotary abutment cooperating with the rotor, a rotata ble memberprojecting into the casing, a clearance strip, and means whereby saidstrip is positively moved toward and away from said abutment by therotation of said rotatable member.

6. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and an exhaust, a rotor,a rotary abutment cooperating with the rotor, a rotatable memberprojecting into the casing, a

clearance strip hinged to said rotatable member, and adapted to bepositively moved toward and away from the abutment by the rotation ofsaid member.

7. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and an exhaust, a rotor,a rotary'abutment cooperating with the rotor, a rotatable memberprojecting into the casing, a clearance strip hinged to said rotatablemember, and adapted to be positively moved toward and away from theabutment by the rotation of said member, and means for cushioning saidstrip.

8. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and an exhaust, a rotor,a rotary abutment cooperating with the rotor, a rotatable memberprojecting into the casing, a clearance strip hinged to said rotatablemember, and adapted to be positively moved toward and away from theabutment by the rotation of said member, and a cushioning springabutting said rotatable member and strip to cushion the latter.

9. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and outlet, a rotor, arotary abutment in rolling contact with the rotor, a rod rotatablymounted in the casing and a clearance strip connected to the rod andcooperating with the abutment, and adapted to be moved toward and awayfrom the abutment by rotation of said rod.

10. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and outlet, a rotor, arotary abutment in rolling contact with the rotor, a rod rotatablymounted .in the casing and a clearance strip hingedly connected to therod and cooperating with the abutment, and adapted tobe movedtoward andaway from the abutment by rotation of said rod.

11. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and outlet, a rotor, arotary abutment in rolling contact with the rotor, a rod rotatablymounted in the casing and a clearance strip yieldingly connected to therod and cooperating with the abutment, and adapted to be moved towardand away from the abutment by rotation of said rod.

12. In a rotary engine, a casing having an inlet and outlet, a rotor, arotary abutment in rolling contact with the rotor, a rod rotatablymounted in the casing and a clearance strip hingedly connected to therod and cooperating with the abutment, and adapted to be moved towardand away from the abutment by rotation of said rod, and a cushionbetween the strip and the rod.

13. A balancing arrangement for rotary engines, comprising an enginehaving a rctor mounted on a shaft and provided with a blade and anabutment cooperating with the rotor, and having a variable areasubjected to a radial load, and a plurality of engines having rotors onsaid shaft, each of said rotors being provided with a blade and having avariable area subjected to load, and

each of said plurality of engines having an abutment cooperating withits rotor, the sum of said areas being equal to the load area of thefirst mentioned rotor, the blades on said plurality of rotors being setat an angle of 120 to the blade of the first mentioned rotor.

14. A rotary engine, comprising a casing, apiston, the latter havingagroove in its face adjacent to the casing, said groove extending in adirection across the line of rotation and in line of its depth directedforwardly to the line of rotation of the piston.

15. A rotary engine, comprising a casing, a piston, the latter having agroove in its face adjacent tothe casing, said groove extending in asubstantially radial direction across the line of rotation and in lineof its depth directed forwardly to the line of rotation.

16. A rotary engine, comprising a casing, a piston, the latter having agroove in its face adjacent to the casing, said groove extending in adirection across the line of rotation, said groove, in the line of itsCopies of this patent may be obtained for depth, being inclinedbackwardly relative to the line of movement.

17. A rotary engine, comprising a casing, a piston, the latter having agroove in its face adjacent to the casing, said groove extending in adirection across the line of rotation, said groove, in the line of itsdepth, being inclined forwardly relative to the line of movement.

18. A rotary engine, comprising a casing, a piston, the latter having agroove in its face adjacent to the casing, said groove extending inadirection across the line of rotation, said groove in the line of itsdepth being inclined forwardly relative to the line of movement, insection one side of said groove curving until it meets the other side.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GERARDUS POST HERRICK.

Witnesses:

GEO. C. CHENY, C. G. HEYLMUN.

five cents each,.by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington,D. G.

